Re: Retirement of libapreq2

All,

We still very much rely on mod_perl in production and would continue to 
maintain it internally if it was dropped officially by Apache. I fully 
understand why the Apache maintainers don't have time for what 
(apparently) has become a niche product.

As to Steve's comment about this list being quiet, I would think it's 
because mod_perl works really well and provides enough functionality to 
get the job done. We have not run into a situation where we needed more 
access to Apache internals than we already get in mod_perl. On the other 
hand, Perl seems to have had its heyday and other languages have taken over.

As to someone forking off a new branch of mod_perl, perhaps that's for 
the best. We are very happy with mod_perl's feature set and our only 
requirement is for it to continue to work with future releases of 
Apache. New features would mean a lot more effort (particularly security 
vetting given this is a C library) which no one seems to have time for.

I have no idea how much work would be required for this community to 
take this job over but like others who have responded, I would be happy 
to help out. We already compile a new version of Apache with every 
Apache release, so running some additional automated tests (if that's 
what's needed) would not be a big inconvenience. Additionally, since we 
run mod_perl in production, it is tested every day.

Best,

Geoff Mottram

On 4/16/2026 3:10 PM, Steve Hay wrote:
> Hello fellow mod_perlers,
> 
> Please see this thread over on [email protected] where there is a
> proposal for retiring/archiving libapreq2:
> 
> https://lists.apache.org/thread/yknw39f3ds9l4x6rsx0y4do096hklob6
> 
> I noted that it would be a shame for mod_perl users for that to
> happen, but I don't feel able to continue development/maintenance of
> it myself. Joe Orton has suggested transferring ownership of it to the
> mod_perl project, but asked the question is anyone else active here?
> 
> Do we have enough people still around with the skills necessary to take this on?
> 
> Please reply here (or on the thread above [email protected]) if you
> would feel able to assist maintain libapreq2, e.g. to support new
> httpd releases and fix any security issues that arise as necessary.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Steve
> 
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